Patanjali plans to diversify into solar power equipment

Power News - Published on Thu, 07 Dec 2017

Economic Times reported that after shaking up the FMCG sector, Yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved is headed to the infrastructure sector. It plans to diversify into solar power equipment manufacturing, a burgeoning sector that is largely dependent on Chinese imports. Mr Acharya Balkrishna, managing director of Patanjali Ayurved in an interview to Mint said that “Getting into solar is in line with the swadeshi movement. With solar, each household in India can have power supply, and we are here to make that happen.”

Patanjali plans to invest around INR 100 crore in solar equipment manufacturing and its factory in Greater Noida is expected to be fully operational within the next couple of months.

Patanjali acquired Advance Navigation and Solar Technologies, a manufacturer of navigation aid equipment, earlier this year. Currently, the facility has a manufacturing capacity of 120 megawatts.

Patanjali will be venturing into a nascent segment where its unique evangelical capacities can be of great help. Ramdev's persuasive brand power can help Patanjali achieve scale.

While the government is actively pursuing ambitious renewable-energy goals, solar power industry is still struggling to evolve in India.

The government plans to install 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. While the government is confident of surpassing the target comfortably, it is exploring ways to add incremental capacity through floating solar, solar manufacturing and offshore wind projects, among other measures. India will have to strive a lot to reach the target in five years from the current base of 60 gigawatts.